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The collective members learn everything I learn. We teach each other. As I continue to equip and empower them with continuing education and business knowledge, my goal is that these women will continue to grow this project for themselves. I will always be with them, but their strength will allow them to become more and more independent.

Nutrition

There is a lot of talk about recycling, about how to use all these plastic bottles, bags and other packaging materials to create something useful or even artistic, giving a value to all the unnecessary packaging, and sometimes with good intention, promoting the consumption of processed food, drinks, personal care products, etc. However, this over-consumption of packaged foods is unsustainable and it is affecting deeply rural communities and society.

In JUSTA, we believe education and proper information are essential to fight against the consumption of junk food and promote healthy eating between young people. This was the issue addressed in a workshop with the students of the Chacaya Secondary Institute. The goal, to let them understand all the negative impacts of the consumption of junk food. For facilitating the activity, we counted on Susana Heisse from Pura Vida, ecological movement that promotes responsible consumption. We discussed the negative effects on their health, the local economy, the planet, and finally on their identity. We talked about the unhealthy ingredients added to junk food, about the money that goes out of Chacaya due to consumption of these and we also calculated the quantity of garbage produced by the packages.

Maya people are known for being “Hombres de Maiz” (the people of corn); this plant has been the base of our food and it´s been considered sacred for millenniums. In the Popol Vuh, the book of Maya Quiché people´s history, it is described how the creator made the people out of corn, after previous trials with wood and mud, which resulted in soulless people and in people that could not stand on their feet. When Maya people plant the Milpa (crop growing system which produces corn, beans and squash), it’s an offering to the Gods – an activity central to spiritual belief. There are four colors of corn seeds representing the four colors of humans, and each variety of corn grows well in the area where it has been sown for centuries. The big multinational companies, as Monsanto, have altered the essence of this sacred plant, adding transgenic elements, finally conceived to monopolize the seeds of our food. The use of transgenic seeds causes contamination of the native seeds, developed through thousands of years of culture. Finally this modified corn is sold in the communities in the form of corn flour and packaged fried snacks, which pretend to substitute the corn mass obtained from local corn ground in the nixtamal (traditional corn Molino). The overabundance of these junk foods and the lack of access to healthier food have increased these communities vulnerability to food related death and disease. 1

There is a strong invasion of processed food in poor communities, the companies have inundated and taken over traditional food channels, with the direct support of governments through the approval of free trade and investment agreements. Like in many rural communities of Guatemala, people in Chacaya don´t have a market to buy vegetables or fruit, but they do have plenty of packaged snacks in the couple of stores that you can find there. They also have many brands of sodas and energetic drinks, even when sometimes they lack safe drinking water. You can see the packages contaminating the town everywhere. The companies find their way to enter to these remote communities but don´t care at all about the garbage left there. Many people in Chacaya don’t speak Spanish but Tzutuj´il language, they cannot understand the ingredients written in the labels, then they don´t know at all what they are putting into their mouth and they are spending their limited resources in buying these products.

We began our responsible consumption workshop playing the game of the store. Some of the students played the role of sellers in a market, and the others played the buyers. Each seller had to convince the buyers of the qualities of his product, with the idea of making contrast between nutritional value and cost. Many students were surprised by the high quantity of sugar contained in the sodas and all the fat and additives contained in fried snacks.

Under the slogan “A better nutrition, less contamination, strong local market”, Susana led the students through some of the historical facts about ancestral Maya nutrition and how “chan”, one of the four basic grains (corn, beans, amaranth and chia) was forbidden during the conquest of América. We took samples of chia and some lemons for the students to take home, the task was to prepare and enjoy a healthy lemonade with chia.

Another star of the day was the “chaya”, used by the ancient Maya people as a dietary staple for centuries, because of its amazing nutritional qualities which gave people the strength they needed for their often harsh work and physically demanding lives. They also recognized chaya as having many medicinal qualities to keep the mind and body strong and healthy. Despite the superfood qualities of this plant, the use of chaya has become largely forgotten and only few people grow and harvest it. For ending the activity, we took many cuttings of chaya and planted them in a corner of the school. We planted aloe vera together with it, to remember also the affordable medicine that can grow in our garden.

JUSTA raises funds for paying the education of students in Chacayá whose families cannot sustain their education. We organize workshops to stimulate these students’ abilities, to open their minds and hopefully to help them make better decisions for their health, their community and the planet.

JUSTA organizes activities with the students of the Chacaya Institute in order to stimulate their abilities and improve their education through workshops, chats and holistic routines. This month´s activity was a nutrition and cooking workshop. The goal of this activity was to inspire students to cook and eat healthy recipes, using locally produced ingredients. In teaching them cooking with creativity, students can prepare inexpensive delicious meals without processed ingredients.

To educate on how to get a balanced diet is not that simple when working with communities that live in poverty. Rural communities in Sololá, and most regions in Guatemala, subsist on agriculture; primarily corn, with some beans and vegetables. Due to cultural habits, poor access to education or proper information, lack of job opportunities and low income, their diet is also based on mostly corn and small portions of beans and vegetables. These families eat meat only for special occasions, since the price per pound of meat in Guatemala equals half of the daily income of most farm workers in Chacaya. Some of the families can afford to raise some chickens, but they are eaten only during celebrations.

There is no market in San Antonio Chacaya. Women have to pay 7 quetzales (roughly one dollar) for transportation that takes them to Santiago Atitlán´s market in order to buy food and/or sell the vegetables or corn that they have grown. Poor access to basic services such as clean water, drains, and suitable latrines make it more difficult to get proper nutrition. Many people have parasites due to unsanitary living conditions, which makes nutrient absorption difficult. In addition, it is challenging to maintain proper hygiene with limited or unclean water.

Despite these limitations, we cooked a balanced yet affordable, and delicious menu for our nutrition workshop with Esperanza, a great facilitator from CEPANESA Association at Chacaya Middle School. The meal consisted of “hierbamora” and radish leaf burgers mixed with eggs, with homemade tomato sauce. For the sides we cooked a radish, tomato and carrot salad, dressed with onion, mint and lemon, and for dessert we prepared a fruit salad with mango and dragon fruit, and fresh squeezed lemonade for a beverage.

All of the students collaborated with the preparation, washing the vegetables (even when we had limited water), cutting, mixing, cooking, frying, serving… and finally, we enjoyed the meal together. Even the seasoning mix Esperanza helped us prepare was delicious.

The cost of each dish was about 4 quetzales (or 50 cents), so one family could afford 10 balanced meals with just one half-day of work. An average number of members per family in rural communities is 6, and this meal is a much better than the fried chicken and potatoes that they often eat due to fast food businesses that have infiltrated communities.

On the other hand, rural indigenous communities are known for pushing women into the background, reserving for them duties such as cooking, doing the laundry, cleaning, and taking care of the kids, all activities requiring them to stay home. Therefore men are usually served by women during meals. We were pleasantly surprised when during our workshop the boys were the first who wanted to cook! Things are changing, and hopefully the mindset of these youth is opening to new possibilities and alternative ways of living. This gives us hope for the next generation to make the change!

I ran into one student´s mother. I told her that her son was cooking rice, and asked if he also collaborated cooking at home. “Sometimes,” she said, “actually he wants to become a chef”.

Unfortunately, we don´t know if that would be possible yet since she is raising her son alone. His father could have been a victim of the civil war, he could have died of disease due to a deficient healthcare system, or he could have just abandoned them. These are all common situations. I can say this boy has many qualities for becoming a successful chef, an artist, a physician, or an engineer. All he and his peers need is to keep going with their studies in order to make all these dreams come true.

JUSTA supports many of these students by providing scholarships to families in-need. If you want to be part of this effort, you can make a donation to help these kids to have a better future…Donate here!

What does access to nutrition and health education mean for students in rural Chacaya, Guatemala? Chacaya is a remote indigenous village of less than 1,000 people on the shores of Lake Atitlan. The students in Chacaya Middle School had the opportunity to take part in a Comida Vida workshop last week to explore those questions in their community.

Comida Vida is JUSTA Collective‘s Holistic Health program with the mission to inspire reconnection with traditional foods and nutrition awareness in Lake Atitlan communities. Guest speaker and Guatemalan nutrition expert, Pedro Rodríguez, joined JUSTA Collective at Chacaya Middle School to discus “What does nutrition mean to you?” Students spent the afternoon participating in interactive simulations and thought-provoking discussions on practical ways to make healthier food choices.

Buy local, think global. Engaging students in conversations about supporting local produce. Where does the money go when you buy foods at the market from local vendors instead of packaged foods from a grocery chain?

Students were given 5 quetzals, equivalent of about 70 cents, to go shopping in our simulated market. Learning practical ways to make healthy purchasing decisions. What would you buy?

Our drink selection during the simulated market. If carbonated sodas or sugary juices are the only options, how do we find a better health alternative?

What does it really mean to “eat the rainbow?” Highlighting the nutritional benefits of incorporating a array of colors into your diet. Eating foods from each color category keeps you healthy!

What does it mean when a product advertises “Vitamin C?” Learning to read the ingredients list to see what’s really inside!

Students try delicious Limonada con Chan (chia seeds) during JUSTA’s Comida Vida Workshop. After talking about the many nutritional advantages of adding Chia to your diet, students asked to keep the seeds to plant at home. Since chia seeds are a traditional and local food to Guatemala, we are all excited to grow and eat more!

Nutritious alternatives to packaged snack foods. How about nutrient-packed avocado on a tostada and fresh sandilla (watermelon)? Cheaper than a packet of cookies and far more delicious!

Ending the day with full bellies and smiles. Thank you to Pedro Rodríguez and the students of Chacaya Middle School for another delicious day of food learning!